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The UFC launches its 2021 slate in style on Saturday.
UFC on ABC 1 marks the return of network TV promotion after a two-year hiatus since the departure of former broadcast partner FOX Sports. This is the first of three events in eight days in Abu Dhabi. And the UFC’s first main event of 2021 looks like a possible barnburner on paper, as former UFC featherweight champion Max Holloway takes on rising Bostonian Calvin Kattar in a five-round game.
UFC on ABC 1 takes place on Saturday at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi. The main card airs on ABC and airs on ESPN + after preliminaries on ESPN +.
Without further ado, here are five burning questions UFC on ABC 1 should answer.
How will Max Holloway react at a key career crossroads?
Max Holloway
Holloway (21-6 MMA, 17-6 UFC) has lost three of his last four fights, but not all 1-3 stretches are created equal.
At UFC 236, Holloway, as the featherweight champion, increased in weight and endured five rounds before losing a decision to Dustin Poirier in an interim title fight. At UFC 240, he beat Frankie Edgar in a title defense. At UFC 245, he suffered a clean loss to Alexander Volkanovsky by unanimous decision. At UFC 251, Volkanovski won a highly controversial split decision, as many – including this reporter – felt Holloway won the fight.
A 1-3 under these circumstances, fighting the best competition in the world, going the distance in every fight and arguably getting robbed in one, is very different from a fighter losing three out of four and looking like a fighter. have finished.
But that still doesn’t alleviate the cold facts of the situation: Volkanovsky is still the champion; Holloway will have a long way to go as long as it does, and the competition doesn’t get any easier. Kattar (22-4 MMA, 6-2 UFC) is on a tear, and as such, Holloway’s first untitled fight since 2016 should serve as a gauge for whether he’ll get another hit.
Can Calvin Kattar make his most definitive statement?
It may seem that Kattar is a promising prospect who has been bursting onto the scene in recent years. After all, we’re only three and a half years away from his UFC debut, when he scored what was then seen as an upset victory over Andre Fili at UFC 214.
But in truth, it has been a long climb for Kattar. This week, chatter surfaced on Twitter highlighting the almost forgotten fact that Kattar competed on the sub-map of the legendary Elite XC event of June 2008 on CBS which was titled by the late Kimbo Slice against James Thompson.
The Bostonian has fought professionally since 2007, three years before Holloway made his debut.
Some are put on the fast lane. Some come the hard way. Kattar’s career culminates at the right time, with enough experience under his belt to have seen and done it all, while still young enough, at 32, to be at the peak of his physical game.
Twelve years later, he’s fortunate enough to fight a world-class contender like Holloway. And with that, the chance to prove that we should have been more careful from the start.
Matt Brown vs. Carlos Condit arrives late. So what?
Carlos Condit vs. Matt Brown
Maybe you came during Ronda Rousey’s Rise and didn’t know what Matt Brown looked like in his prime.
Or maybe you started watching while Carlos Condit was on a five-game losing streak and wondered what was about “The Natural Born Killer”.
If you missed their bonuses, well, you missed it. Condit (31-13 MMA, 8-9 UFC) was a championship-level fighter who never lost his talent for thrilling bloodbaths along the way. Brown (22-17 MMA, 15-11 UFC) never quite reached Condit’s title level, but he made the most of his talent and completed it with a pure heart, resulting in a streak of seven straight UFC wins from 2012-14.
Throughout the course, Brown vs. Condit was touted as a dream fight all in action. He was programmed twice and fell both times.
Now it’s finally here. Brown has just turned 40. Condit will be 37 in April. Both faced injuries. Neither will make another race for a title. But Condit just got a win, and Brown got two of three. Condit is on the last fight of his UFC contract, and Brown has hinted that this could be his last tango, so the two have a lot of motivation.
Maybe it’s not the fight it could have been ten years ago, but just appreciate that this fight is finally here and sit back and enjoy.
Can Santiago Ponzinibbio pick up where he left off?
It was both a statement victory and the culmination of a long trip: Santiago Ponzinibbio knocked out Neil Magny in the fourth round of their UFC Buenos Aires main event, a moment to remember in his hometown, his seventh consecutive victory, his second “Performance of the Night” in three fights, and a definitive declaration that he had reached the top rung of the welterweight division.
This fight took place in November 2018, and it was the last we saw from Ponzinibbio (27-3 MMA, 9-2 UFC) so far this week. Injuries and health issues such as the staph infection sidelined him just after his greatest moment, and the division has changed a lot in his absence.
Will ring rust get in the way or can Ponzinibbio pick up where it left off? It’s really that easy as for the Argentinian, who faces a solid short-notice replacement to Li Jinliang (17-6 MMA, 9-4 UFC) on the main card for the night.
Can Joaquin Buckley continue to grow?
Look, unless Joaquin Buckley becomes the next-gen version of an Anderson Silva, we’re probably not going to see anything come close to his all-time big knockout of Impa Kasanganay.
But Buckley appears to be doing something bigger in the long run: establishing that he’s on his way to becoming a legitimate contender in the middleweight division.
Buckley (12-3 MMA, 2-1 UFC) turned away from his viral October climax and fought Jordan Wright a month later at UFC 255, and this time he showed balance and patience in wearing out Wright and using old school-and-pound terrain to earn a second-round TKO.
Buckley has therefore shown that he can do it both in a flashy and serious way. He’s now back for his third fight in three months, taking on Alessio Di Chirico (12-5 MMA, 3-5 UFC). It might not be the fight that puts him at the top of the division, but three wins in three months would be a good way to show you’re eager to prove you’re ready to climb that ladder and climb it fast. .
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